This includes sister figure Yelena, played by Florence Pugh, and unconventional quasi-parents portrayed by David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

Johansson said: “I think part of Kevin Feige’s genius is that he always thinks about what fans expect out of these films and then gives them something that they never could’ve dreamed of.

Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh in Black Widow (Credit: Marvel)

“The idea of Natasha Romanoff in a family drama is the least expected thing, and I had to wrap my head around what that was going to be because there’s such a big tonal shift.”

Black Widow is set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, therefore many years prior to the character’s death during the epic, time travel-powered Infinity Stones quest in Avengers: Endgame.

Johansson first played Romanoff in 2010’s Iron Man 2 and has since become one of the stalwarts of the MCU, but is appearing in a title role for the first time with Black Widow.

Black Widow nails the landing. (Disney)

The 35-year-old actor said: “I think from the very beginning when we first started talking about doing this standalone film, there was no reason to do it unless we could really dig deep and be brave and go there.

“Having played this character for a decade, I wanted to make sure that it would feel artistically and creatively rewarding for me as well as the fans.”

Black Widow is currently delayed indefinitely with no release date in sight.

It is also unclear what impact the coronavirus will have on the rest of the Phase Four slate of MCU movies.

The Eternals currently remains scheduled for a November 2020 release date and Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was dated for August, but is currently on a virus-imposed hiatus from production.